I inherited my aunt's old Mac SE when I was six (she was moving to the US and couldn't take it with her), and several years later, (maybe I was about 10 or so?), while rooting through a load of the 800kb floppies that came with it, I came across HyperCard. It had no manuals, but it came with several example programs ("stacks") - and these were enough for me to pick up the language pretty much in full.
I booted the machine again the other week and it amazes me how much of it I picked up without any instruction at all.
Anyway, unless you can get hold of a load of classic Macs from eBay and load HC onto them, I suggest a modern language that's similar - Lingo. It comes with Macromedia's Director (or at least it did two years ago - haven't used it since I switched to Linux). Like HyperCard, it has a near-English syntax that's a cinch to pick up. I think you can also get an education version, presumably at a lower price.
Alternatively, have a look at Lego's Mindstorms kits. Fully programmable, using a visual (flow-chart bassed) lanuage.
There's a great big map of the UK on the wall behind me, but I usually just look stuff up on Google instead - moving my head is such a pain in the arse...
No, Apple's going to take the blame, because it's in an Apple product.
The vast majority of consumers will think "I bought it at an Apple store, it says Apple on it, anything that goes wrong is the fault of Apple." Apple needs to make this kind of gesture to regain some of the credibility it's lost in recent years over scratchable iPods, whiny Macbooks, discolouring Macbooks and screen-cracking iPods.
It needs people to know that if it accidentally puts out a shoddy product, it'll do its utmost to put it right again.
If this recall is a bit disproportional, it's because Apple is making an example. They're saying, "look, we're fixing this problem you've heard so much about, totally out of our own pocket. It's still safe to buy things from us, and it's still worth paying more than you would for a competitor's product."
Yeah now your going to have to worry about your PS3 turning into a killing machine and shooting Blue Ray DVDs at you.
Or just blue rays. If it detects you nefariously watching your movies via the Analogue Hole, (you could be making illicit backup copiesZOMG!!!11!), it has an inbuilt ray gun to vaporise you, thus gently discouraging you from doing it again.
That's a kicker, agreed, but I was more upset when I found out that "Diplodocus" was pronounced differently. That was my favourite dinosaur when I was a kid, because it sounded funny (I was saying it "DIP-lo-DO-cus") - I became disillusioned with the whole thing when I found it was really "dih-PLOD-oh-cus". I wouldn't look at my "DINOSAURS" poster for weeks.
I personally can't stand to listen to crappy audio. That's why I'm buying a new soundcard as soon as I have the money - this ac'97 codec on my motherboard is little short of painful...
I just plug it into its dock and Amarok recognises it, mounts it and makes it available for transfers automatically. Then I press "Disconnect" and it unmounts AND ejects it, ready to take cycling.
And Amarok is actually nice to use. gtkpod is *horrible*.
...but most people don't *know* about the better software.
They don't distinguish between "Internet Explorer" and "Internet". They don't realise that IE is a discrete thing that can have an alternative, let alone that an alternative exists. I put Firefox on my aunt's machine a while ago, and she carried on using IE, thinking that I'd just installed something to make the Internet work better.
The majority of end-users are phenomenally clueless, and as long as Microsoft keeps bundling IE as the default browser, it *will* remain on top. Sad but true.
We're talking about Compact Flash here, aren't we?
True, it's a bit bulky nowadays to power your average phone, but it's the perfect size for portable data storage. All it lacks is the convenience of plugging into the port that absolutely every computer made in the last 5 years has built-in.
Theres nothing stopping people that can't keep track of their things from putting them into oversized cases anyway.
...but they won't. If it's clearly designed to be small, you don't take away that perceived convenience by making it artificially bigger. It's a psychological thing, I expect.
Also, the losability issue aside, what about the elderly and/or disabled? Such people dislike fiddly small things because they don't have the dexterity to use them properly.
An important question is why the hell does all of our media have to be huge?
Let me ask you two questions in return:
1. How many supersmall, tiny flash drives have you lost?
2. How many CDs/DVDs/other optical media have you lost?
12cm is a nice size to carry around with you, and it's harder to misplace.
Although having said that, I do own one of these - I keep it in the loose change section of my wallet xD
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I inherited my aunt's old Mac SE when I was six (she was moving to the US and couldn't take it with her), and several years later, (maybe I was about 10 or so?), while rooting through a load of the 800kb floppies that came with it, I came across HyperCard. It had no manuals, but it came with several example programs ("stacks") - and these were enough for me to pick up the language pretty much in full.
I booted the machine again the other week and it amazes me how much of it I picked up without any instruction at all.
Anyway, unless you can get hold of a load of classic Macs from eBay and load HC onto them, I suggest a modern language that's similar - Lingo. It comes with Macromedia's Director (or at least it did two years ago - haven't used it since I switched to Linux). Like HyperCard, it has a near-English syntax that's a cinch to pick up. I think you can also get an education version, presumably at a lower price.
Alternatively, have a look at Lego's Mindstorms kits. Fully programmable, using a visual (flow-chart bassed) lanuage.
I've tried both, and loved them.
It saves the bother of talking.
There's a great big map of the UK on the wall behind me, but I usually just look stuff up on Google instead - moving my head is such a pain in the arse...
Two Microsofts? Argh, I'm going to have nightmares now. Thanks a lot.
No, Apple's going to take the blame, because it's in an Apple product.
The vast majority of consumers will think "I bought it at an Apple store, it says Apple on it, anything that goes wrong is the fault of Apple." Apple needs to make this kind of gesture to regain some of the credibility it's lost in recent years over scratchable iPods, whiny Macbooks, discolouring Macbooks and screen-cracking iPods.
It needs people to know that if it accidentally puts out a shoddy product, it'll do its utmost to put it right again.
If this recall is a bit disproportional, it's because Apple is making an example. They're saying, "look, we're fixing this problem you've heard so much about, totally out of our own pocket. It's still safe to buy things from us, and it's still worth paying more than you would for a competitor's product."
Pssst... The planet debate's over there...
Or just blue rays. If it detects you nefariously watching your movies via the Analogue Hole, (you could be making illicit backup copiesZOMG!!!11!), it has an inbuilt ray gun to vaporise you, thus gently discouraging you from doing it again.
That's a kicker, agreed, but I was more upset when I found out that "Diplodocus" was pronounced differently. That was my favourite dinosaur when I was a kid, because it sounded funny (I was saying it "DIP-lo-DO-cus") - I became disillusioned with the whole thing when I found it was really "dih-PLOD-oh-cus". I wouldn't look at my "DINOSAURS" poster for weeks.
I admire you for your level of tolerance.
I personally can't stand to listen to crappy audio. That's why I'm buying a new soundcard as soon as I have the money - this ac'97 codec on my motherboard is little short of painful...
This is what happens when you say the mods are on crack ;)
The capital of Australia is Canberra.
...until you get spoilsports like me who run Gentoo xD
But Larry loves you :D
Mine's even easier.
I just plug it into its dock and Amarok recognises it, mounts it and makes it available for transfers automatically. Then I press "Disconnect" and it unmounts AND ejects it, ready to take cycling.
And Amarok is actually nice to use. gtkpod is *horrible*.
In Soviet Russia, equation differentiates you!
Cross-platform maybe, but up-to-date? Pah!
Flash 8 was released almost a year ago and it still isn't available for Linux!
...but most people don't *know* about the better software.
They don't distinguish between "Internet Explorer" and "Internet". They don't realise that IE is a discrete thing that can have an alternative, let alone that an alternative exists. I put Firefox on my aunt's machine a while ago, and she carried on using IE, thinking that I'd just installed something to make the Internet work better.
The majority of end-users are phenomenally clueless, and as long as Microsoft keeps bundling IE as the default browser, it *will* remain on top. Sad but true.
Thankyou.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus
It's from Futurama, isn't it?
Nope.
But I had a little help from Google.
Well, la-di-da!
We all lived in caves and threw rocks at each other!
If one hit you on t'chest it meant t'server were down, and if it hit you on t'head it meant you were fired.
We didn't have none o'these fancy-Dan inventions in my day!
That's a bloody good idea - I suggest you do a spot of research and patent that now, before somebody else does.
We're talking about Compact Flash here, aren't we?
True, it's a bit bulky nowadays to power your average phone, but it's the perfect size for portable data storage. All it lacks is the convenience of plugging into the port that absolutely every computer made in the last 5 years has built-in.
Also, the losability issue aside, what about the elderly and/or disabled? Such people dislike fiddly small things because they don't have the dexterity to use them properly.
1. How many supersmall, tiny flash drives have you lost?
2. How many CDs/DVDs/other optical media have you lost?
12cm is a nice size to carry around with you, and it's harder to misplace.
Although having said that, I do own one of these - I keep it in the loose change section of my wallet xD